Vehicle-coupling



(No Model.) v

G. F. SMITH &-. W. H. WARREN.

VEHIGLE COUPLING.

Patented Nov.

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Cl/n00 Z WITNESSES,

I sure ATENT met.

GEORGE F. SMITH AND \VILLIAM HENRY 'WARREN, OF GOVINGTON, KENTUCKY.

VEHICLE-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,467, dated November6, 1888.

Serial No. 280,156. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE F. SMITH and WILLIAM HENRY WARREN, citizensof the United States of America, residing at Covington, in the county ofKenton and State of Kentueky, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Couplings for Vehicles; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains tomake and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this speeification.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements incouplings for vehiclcs, and it consists in the construction andcombination of the parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, andspecifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of acoupling constructed in accordance with our improvement. Fig. 2 is asectional view.

Arefers to any suitable head-block, above which is located a spring, B.The spring B is secured to the head-block A on each side of its centerby clips D, which pass through four projecting lugs, d, formedintegralwith head-block plate E, this plate being secured to the under side ofthe head-block in the usual manner.

The upper circle, F, of the fifth-wheel is provided withupwardly-projecting lugsf, which lie on each side of the head-block A,and between them is placed the ends of the head-block plate E, so as tosecure, by means of bolts a a, the headbloek A to the upper circle, F,of the fifth-wheel. The lower sections, F, of the tifth-wheel areclipped to the axle in the usual manner.

The laterally'extending head-block plate E is formed integral with thedrop reach-iron G, which is provided with a central recess, 7, throughwhich passes the king-bolt, the lower portion of the kingbolt beingbifurcated to embrace the axle.

The drop reach-iron G, besides having headblock plate E and projectinglugs dd, through which pass clips D, formed integral therewith,

has also a forwardly-projecting portion, H, the outer end of which isperforated for the reception of one end of the drop-iron K. The rearportion of the drop reach-iron Gis curved downward and has formedintegral therewith rearwardly extending plates J J, adapted to be boltedto the reach. lVhen a double reach, as shown, is used, the plates J Jwill diverge; but with a single reach they will be compressed or bent tolie almost parallel with each other and embrace the sides of the reach.

It will be noted that the drop reach-iron, consisting of the parts E H GJ J and the projecting lugs d (I, through which pass clips D, are allrigidly connected and formed integral with each other, so that there areno parts to rattle or become detached.

K refers to the drop-irou, which has rearwardly-projecting divergingplates L, adapted to be secured to the under side of' the reach whendouble reaches are used. From these diverging plates L the drop ironextends downwardly and forwardly and is provided with an opening, k,through which passes a bolt formed with the clip-yoke which connects theking-bolt to the axle, said bolt being threaded and provided with a nut,O, which operates between the clipyoke and drop-iron described above.The drop-iron K also eX- tends upwardly in front of the axle, and ispassed through the perforation in the extension H of the drop reach-ironG, to which it is secured by a nut, h. The drop reachiron G and thedrop-iron K are secured to the reach or reaches by bolts, as shown inaccompanying drawings, and the reach or reaches are provided with platesin m, which are connected at one end. Through these plates m pass boltsfor connecting the fifth -wheel F thereto, the same bolts also passingthrough perforations in the drop-iron K.

Beneath the axle, and securing the bifurcated ends of the king-bolt,isaking-bolt clipyoke, N, the ends of which are provided with perforationsthrough which the bifurcated ends of the king-bolt pass and are securedby nuts. This clip-yokeNis provided with a de pending screw threadedportion, a, which passes through the opening of the drop-iron K, and onthe threaded portion adjacent to the clip-yoke Nis placed atightening-nut, O,

which when turned downward will bear upon the upper side of thedrop-iron K, thus taking up all wear of the fifth-wheel plates F F, sothat the parts, may be tightened when desired.

The drop-iron K is secured beneath by a nut, 0.

It will be observed that there are but few parts to our improvedcoupling, and that they have been designed so that as many parts aspossible have been formed integral with each other to avoid loosening ofthe parts and rattling.

The device hereinbefore described may be used as a coupling for carriageand buggy gears, and as the parts are not directly connected with thewearingplaties of the fifthwhcel any style of fifth-wheel maybe usedwith the hereinbefore-described coupling.

The king-bolt clip-yoke, when constructed as shown and usedin connectionwith the drop reach-iron G and the drop-iron K, makes an adjustablecoupling which can be fitted to different sizes of fifth-wheels, and byturning the nutO the wear may be taken up.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Let tors Patent, is-

1.. The combination, with the kingbolt and coupling, of the yoke N,having a depending screw-threaded portion which passes through thedrop-iron, nuts 0 and o, en aging with the screw-threaded portions aboveand below the drop-iron, substantially as shown, and for the purpose setforth.

2. The combination, in a coupling for vehicles, of a king-boltbifurcated at its lower end to embrace theaxlc', a yoke throng-'11 whichthe bifurcated portions of the king-bolt pass, said yoke having adepending portion screwthreaded adjacent to the yoke, and a nut adaptedto be turned upon the screw-threads between the drop-iron and cross-bar,and a head-block iron and drcp-iron constructed substantially asshown,and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a coupling for vchicles, a king-bolt provided atthe under side of the head-block plate with a shoulder, said king-boltbeing bifurcated and attached to a cross plate or yoke having adepending screwthreaded portion, a, a nut adapted to turn upon saiddepending portion, and a securingnut, 0, beneath the drop-iron, theparts being combined with a head-block iron and dropiron, constructedsubstantially as shown, and for the purpose set forth.

4t. As an improved article of mannlaeture, a head-block iron having afront projection, H, with a perforation, a recess, 9, rearward anddownward projecting member G,with diverging plates J'J, andlaterally-extending plates E E, adapted to lie under the headblock, theparts being formed integral with each other and adapted for use,substantially as shown, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE F. SMITII. \VILLIABT IIENRY \VARREN.

Witnesses: I

J. H. MINDERMANN, BALTZER YAGO.

